Bruins in good shape at break, but defense may be an issue

A hot streak before the Olympic break put the Bruins in great position for the stretch run. They may find it hard to add to their defense corps by the March 5 trade deadline, though.

Mike Loftus The Patriot Ledger

Nobody likes to be interrupted or wait around, which is what the Olympic break is doing to the Bruins – most of them, anyway – and their fans. No team in the NHL was more productive over its last 10 games (7-1-2 record), and now everyone has to chill until the B’s play again on Feb. 26 at Buffalo.

Things could be a lot worse, of course.

The Bruins rebuilt a nice cushion atop the Atlantic Division standings before the break and will resume play with leads of seven and eight points over Tampa Bay, Montreal and Toronto. They have played fewer games than any team in the division, but have seven more wins in regulation and overtime than anyone. They’re 14 points above the playoff qualification line with 25 games to play, so their seventh straight postseason trip is pretty much assured.

Even if that happens, there’s an issue to address once everyone is back from Russia. The NHL trade deadline is March 5 – one week after play resumes – and the prevailing theory is that the Bruins’ defense isn’t built for a Stanley Cup run.

The issue is so obvious, in fact, that it might be impossible for general manager Peter Chiarelli to address it sufficiently unless he’s willing to overpay for defensive help.

Everyone knows the basic situation: Dennis Seidenberg, who forms half of the shutdown defense pairing with Chara during the playoffs, has had season-ending knee surgery.

There are secondary issues, too:

Veteran Andrew Ference, who always moved up from the third pairing to the second for the postseason, became an Edmonton Oiler via free agency last summer.

Adam McQuaid, a dependable third-pairing defender and penalty-killer, has missed 22 games because of leg injuries.

Even with Seidenberg on Long Term Injured Reserve, the Bruins have about only $2.5 million in salary cap space.

So Chiarelli seems to be in a tough spot.

On one hand, he said before the Bruins went on break, “I always feel that we need eight good NHL defenders going into the playoffs,” but the B’s will come back with seven, at most – and that’s presuming McQuaid returns and can stay healthy. That means Chiarelli must add at least one blue-liner, but he said on Saturday, “I don’t want to give up any roster players.”

The last part is somewhat understandable. The Bruins are a first-place team, have one of the top half-dozen goalies in the league in Rask, and are better offensively than most people know. Only four teams have scored more goals and the B’s rank eighth in the NHL on the power play (20.4 percent), despite getting the fewest power-play opportunities of any team.

Chiarelli may also be considering recent history, too.

The Bruins survived parts of the first and all of the second round of last year’s playoffs without Seidenberg, Ference and trade-deadline acquisition Wade Redden, and their replacements – Dougie Hamilton, Torey Krug, Matt Bartkowski – are all full-timers this season. In fact, they helped the B’s go 8-1-2 since Jan. 16, with no help from Seidenberg (out since Dec. 28) and only marginal assistance from McQuaid, who missed the last nine games before the break.

“With each passing game, I see our defense maturing,” Chiarelli said. “It makes it a little easier on me.”

That doesn’t mean the GM plans to stand pat. “I’d like to add some depth at some point, defensively,” he said.

But if you expect or hope for the addition of a “name” defenseman or one who has made a career as a Top 4 blue-liner, you may be disappointed.

“If we don’t end up doing anything, then we don’t end up doing anything,” Chiarelli said. “And I’m OK.”

Mike Loftus may be reached at mloftus@ledger.com or follow on Twitter @MLoftus_Ledger.